Amy Maxmen
Why Evolution Is Ageist
Genetic mutation changes from adaptive to dangerous after reproductive age.
Strange Worms Are Taking Their Place on Your Family Tree
The Cambrian explosion of animal life now seems more like a whimper.
How Slow Responses Made the Ebola Outbreak So Deadly
As a rule, huge organizations move sluggishly, bogged down in democratic decision-making processes and bureaucratic policies. Ebola, on the other hand, moves fast. People become desperately sick and contagious within a few weeks of infection. By the time international agencies effectively responded to the ongoing Ebola outbreak, it had spiraled out of control in West […]
A Holy Land for Religion and Science
In Ethiopia, evolution is not a threat to people of faith.
6 Traits of Tomorrow’s Blockbuster Digital Technologies
If history adheres to timeless long-term trends, Walter Isaacson’s recent book on the digital revolution, The Innovators, could reveal a lot about the future of our digital age. Last week Isaacson, known for his biographies of Steve Jobs and Albert Einstein, spoke about the geniuses behind the last century of innovation at the New-York Historical […]
Digging Through the World’s Oldest Graveyard
In Ethiopia, paleontologists are pushing back the clock on humanity’s origins.
Turning Back the Clock on Human Evolution
Digging through the world’s oldest graveyard with African paleontologists.
Evolution May Be Drunk, But It’s Serious About Making Brains
A new study shows that the comb jelly Pleurobrachia bachei evolved its complex features, including neurons and muscles, separately from animals like us.Leonid Moroz and Mat Citarella Our brains, perched atop a network of nerve cells that ascend the length of our bodies, are thought to have arisen once in an animal hundreds of millions […]
This Valentine’s Day, Go Public or Go Home
Ken Kraaijeveld unveils ancient secrets of seduction from the animal kingdom.
Evolution, You’re Drunk
DNA studies topple the ladder of complexity.